Bill Text: MN HR4 | 2013-2014 | 88th Legislature | Draft
Bill Title: Organ harvesting; a house resolution expressing concern over organ harvesting in the People's Republic of China.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (N/A - Dead) 2013-05-01 - Author added Kieffer [HR4 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2013-HR4-Draft.html
1.1A House resolution
1.2expressing concern over persistent and credible reports of organ harvesting from
1.3criminal detainees and prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of China,
1.4including from large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their
1.5religious beliefs, and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.
1.6WHEREAS, when performed in accordance with ethical standards, the medical discipline
1.7of organ transplantation is one of the great achievements of modern medicine;
1.8WHEREAS, the People's Republic of China performs the second-highest number of annual
1.9organ transplants, yet has no organized public system of organ donation or distribution, and a
1.10cultural aversion to voluntary donation;
1.11WHEREAS, medical professionals in the People's Republic of China began conducting
1.12organ transplants in the 1980s, with the majority of organs sourced from death row prisoners;
1.13WHEREAS, in June 2001, Chinese doctor Wang Guoqi testified before the House
1.14International Affairs subcommittee that hospitals worked in collusion with state security agencies
1.15to extract organs from executed prisoners without written consent of the donors, and that these
1.16transplants were a lucrative source of income;
1.17WHEREAS, the practice of sourcing organs from nonconsenting prisoners is a violation
1.18of medical ethics and has been condemned by international medical organizations and the
1.19transplant community as a whole;
1.20WHEREAS, researcher and journalist Ethan Gutmann has published findings that Chinese
1.21security agencies began harvesting organs from members of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur
1.22ethnic minority group in the 1990s, including from Uyghur political prisoners. These findings
2.1were based on interviews with medical professionals and members of the security agencies
2.2involved in the organ extractions;
2.3WHEREAS, Falun Gong—a form of meditative "qigong" practice centered on the values of
2.4truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance—became immensely popular in the 1990s, with some
2.5estimates placing the number of practitioners upwards of 70 million;
2.6WHEREAS, in July of 1999, the Communist Party of China launched an intensive,
2.7nationwide campaign designed to eliminate the popular spiritual practice Falun Gong;
2.8WHEREAS, since 1999, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong prisoners have been
2.9detained extralegally in reeducation-through-labor camps, detention centers, and prisons, where
2.10torture and abuse are routine. In many detention facilities and labor camps, Falun Gong prisoners
2.11of conscience comprise the majority of the population, and have been said to receive the longest
2.12sentences and the worst treatment;
2.13WHEREAS, in order to protect their families and associates, many Falun Gong prisoners of
2.14conscience refuse to provide real names or other personally identifying information to security
2.15agencies, thus making them more vulnerable to abuses;
2.16WHEREAS, the number of organ transplant operations in China increased significantly
2.17after 2000, corresponding with the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong. This increase does not
2.18appear to be attributable either to an overall increase in the number of death row inmates or to
2.19an increase in voluntary donations;
2.20WHEREAS, there is a significant discrepancy between the number of organ transplants
2.21performed in China and the number of identifiable sources of organs, including death row
2.22prisoners. The government of the People's Republic of China has failed to adequately account
2.23for the sources of the excess organs;
2.24WHEREAS, many Chinese hospitals advertise wait times of less than one month for kidney
2.25and liver transplants. Because organs have a very limited survival period outside the body, such
2.26short wait times are likely facilitated by maintaining a large pool of living donors whose organs
2.27can be harvested on demand;
2.28WHEREAS, interviews conducted with former Falun Gong religious prisoners suggest
2.29that, while in custody, they were targeted for medical exams—including blood and urine
2.30tests—intended to assess the health of their vital organs and their candidacy for organ harvesting.
2.31Other prisoner groups were generally not subjected to these tests;
3.1WHEREAS, in 2006, several Chinese hospitals admitted in phone calls with investigators
3.2that they used or could obtain vital organs of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience for transplant;
3.3WHEREAS, Canadian researchers David Matas, a human rights attorney, and David
3.4Kilgour, a former Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, conducted an investigation in 2006 into
3.5allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Based on extensive
3.6circumstantial evidence, their report concluded that the allegations were true, and that tens of
3.7thousands may have been killed for their organs;
3.8WHEREAS, separate investigations by journalist Ethan Gutmann produced similar
3.9conclusions. Gutmann estimates that approximately 65,000 Falun Gong adherents may have
3.10been killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008, and that a smaller number of other religious and
3.11ethnic minorities may also have been targeted;
3.12WHEREAS, in May 2012, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun
3.13Gong released telephone transcripts of conversations between investigators and senior Chinese
3.14Communist Party officials, in which several officials indicated that central authorities were aware
3.15of and/or involved in organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners. Among those implicated were
3.16former Politburo member Bo Xilai and his deputy, Wang Lijun;
3.17WHEREAS, the United Nations Committee Against Torture and the Special Rapporteur
3.18on Torture have expressed concern over the allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong
3.19prisoners, and have called on the government of the People's Republic of China to increase
3.20accountability and transparency in the organ transplant system, and to punish those responsible
3.21for abuses;
3.22WHEREAS, the killing of religious or political prisoners for the purpose of selling their
3.23organs for transplant is an egregious and intolerable abuse of fundamental human rights;
3.24WHEREAS, in September 2012, experts testified before the House Foreign Affairs
3.25Committee that American patients continue to travel to China for organ transplants and that the
3.26medical community continues cooperation and trainings with Chinese colleagues, creating the
3.27risk that they may be indirectly aiding abusive practices; NOW, THEREFORE,
3.28BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota that it:
3.291. Calls on the government of the People's Republic of China to end the practice of organ
3.30harvesting from all prisoners, and particularly from Falun Gong practitioners and members of
3.31other religious and ethnic minority groups, and to demand explicit written consent for all organ
3.32transplantations;
4.12. Calls for a full and transparent investigation into organ transplant practices in the
4.2People's Republic of China, and for prosecution of those found to have engaged in such practices;
4.33. Demands an immediate end to the 13-year persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual
4.4practice by the Communist Party of China; and
4.54. Recommends that the U.S. State Department issue a travel warning for American
4.6citizens traveling to China for organ transplants informing them of the possibility that the organs
4.7are sourced from nonconsenting religious or political prisoners.
1.2expressing concern over persistent and credible reports of organ harvesting from
1.3criminal detainees and prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of China,
1.4including from large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their
1.5religious beliefs, and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.
1.6WHEREAS, when performed in accordance with ethical standards, the medical discipline
1.7of organ transplantation is one of the great achievements of modern medicine;
1.8WHEREAS, the People's Republic of China performs the second-highest number of annual
1.9organ transplants, yet has no organized public system of organ donation or distribution, and a
1.10cultural aversion to voluntary donation;
1.11WHEREAS, medical professionals in the People's Republic of China began conducting
1.12organ transplants in the 1980s, with the majority of organs sourced from death row prisoners;
1.13WHEREAS, in June 2001, Chinese doctor Wang Guoqi testified before the House
1.14International Affairs subcommittee that hospitals worked in collusion with state security agencies
1.15to extract organs from executed prisoners without written consent of the donors, and that these
1.16transplants were a lucrative source of income;
1.17WHEREAS, the practice of sourcing organs from nonconsenting prisoners is a violation
1.18of medical ethics and has been condemned by international medical organizations and the
1.19transplant community as a whole;
1.20WHEREAS, researcher and journalist Ethan Gutmann has published findings that Chinese
1.21security agencies began harvesting organs from members of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur
1.22ethnic minority group in the 1990s, including from Uyghur political prisoners. These findings
2.1were based on interviews with medical professionals and members of the security agencies
2.2involved in the organ extractions;
2.3WHEREAS, Falun Gong—a form of meditative "qigong" practice centered on the values of
2.4truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance—became immensely popular in the 1990s, with some
2.5estimates placing the number of practitioners upwards of 70 million;
2.6WHEREAS, in July of 1999, the Communist Party of China launched an intensive,
2.7nationwide campaign designed to eliminate the popular spiritual practice Falun Gong;
2.8WHEREAS, since 1999, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong prisoners have been
2.9detained extralegally in reeducation-through-labor camps, detention centers, and prisons, where
2.10torture and abuse are routine. In many detention facilities and labor camps, Falun Gong prisoners
2.11of conscience comprise the majority of the population, and have been said to receive the longest
2.12sentences and the worst treatment;
2.13WHEREAS, in order to protect their families and associates, many Falun Gong prisoners of
2.14conscience refuse to provide real names or other personally identifying information to security
2.15agencies, thus making them more vulnerable to abuses;
2.16WHEREAS, the number of organ transplant operations in China increased significantly
2.17after 2000, corresponding with the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong. This increase does not
2.18appear to be attributable either to an overall increase in the number of death row inmates or to
2.19an increase in voluntary donations;
2.20WHEREAS, there is a significant discrepancy between the number of organ transplants
2.21performed in China and the number of identifiable sources of organs, including death row
2.22prisoners. The government of the People's Republic of China has failed to adequately account
2.23for the sources of the excess organs;
2.24WHEREAS, many Chinese hospitals advertise wait times of less than one month for kidney
2.25and liver transplants. Because organs have a very limited survival period outside the body, such
2.26short wait times are likely facilitated by maintaining a large pool of living donors whose organs
2.27can be harvested on demand;
2.28WHEREAS, interviews conducted with former Falun Gong religious prisoners suggest
2.29that, while in custody, they were targeted for medical exams—including blood and urine
2.30tests—intended to assess the health of their vital organs and their candidacy for organ harvesting.
2.31Other prisoner groups were generally not subjected to these tests;
3.1WHEREAS, in 2006, several Chinese hospitals admitted in phone calls with investigators
3.2that they used or could obtain vital organs of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience for transplant;
3.3WHEREAS, Canadian researchers David Matas, a human rights attorney, and David
3.4Kilgour, a former Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, conducted an investigation in 2006 into
3.5allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Based on extensive
3.6circumstantial evidence, their report concluded that the allegations were true, and that tens of
3.7thousands may have been killed for their organs;
3.8WHEREAS, separate investigations by journalist Ethan Gutmann produced similar
3.9conclusions. Gutmann estimates that approximately 65,000 Falun Gong adherents may have
3.10been killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008, and that a smaller number of other religious and
3.11ethnic minorities may also have been targeted;
3.12WHEREAS, in May 2012, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun
3.13Gong released telephone transcripts of conversations between investigators and senior Chinese
3.14Communist Party officials, in which several officials indicated that central authorities were aware
3.15of and/or involved in organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners. Among those implicated were
3.16former Politburo member Bo Xilai and his deputy, Wang Lijun;
3.17WHEREAS, the United Nations Committee Against Torture and the Special Rapporteur
3.18on Torture have expressed concern over the allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong
3.19prisoners, and have called on the government of the People's Republic of China to increase
3.20accountability and transparency in the organ transplant system, and to punish those responsible
3.21for abuses;
3.22WHEREAS, the killing of religious or political prisoners for the purpose of selling their
3.23organs for transplant is an egregious and intolerable abuse of fundamental human rights;
3.24WHEREAS, in September 2012, experts testified before the House Foreign Affairs
3.25Committee that American patients continue to travel to China for organ transplants and that the
3.26medical community continues cooperation and trainings with Chinese colleagues, creating the
3.27risk that they may be indirectly aiding abusive practices; NOW, THEREFORE,
3.28BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota that it:
3.291. Calls on the government of the People's Republic of China to end the practice of organ
3.30harvesting from all prisoners, and particularly from Falun Gong practitioners and members of
3.31other religious and ethnic minority groups, and to demand explicit written consent for all organ
3.32transplantations;
4.12. Calls for a full and transparent investigation into organ transplant practices in the
4.2People's Republic of China, and for prosecution of those found to have engaged in such practices;
4.33. Demands an immediate end to the 13-year persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual
4.4practice by the Communist Party of China; and
4.54. Recommends that the U.S. State Department issue a travel warning for American
4.6citizens traveling to China for organ transplants informing them of the possibility that the organs
4.7are sourced from nonconsenting religious or political prisoners.
